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The 2010 World Expo will be starting in Shanghai on May 1, 2010 and last through October 31, 2010. The Boston Globe has a collection of amazing pictures of the preparation as well as footage of the actual venue itself. The U.S. has spent about $60 million in the construction of its 60,000 square foot pavilion. This was funded largely by U.S. corporations at the urge of Hilary Clinton. In all, according to the Boston Globe, $56billion would be spent in Shanghai on behalf of this event (more than the 2008 Beijing Olympics). Ok, that was actually misleading, because bulk of the money went into infrastructure spending to improve the city. This year, the theme is “Better City, Better Life.” Below is a promotional video showing off Shanghai by the organizers (with world famous pianist, Lang Lang):

One thing that is constant around the world is the occurrence of natural disasters. Every occurrence, thousands or millions of peoples lives are affected. Many die. Many are left homeless. Many are seriously injured. Many are permanently handicapped. Still, many are left without a child or a parent. Our world is full of disasters, and China has unfortunately had a large share. Below is a listing of the top ten natural disasters around the world:

Welcome to Hidden Harmonies! We like to officially announce the start of a sister blog to Foolsmountain. We are dedicated to articulating and seeking out Chinese perspectives, smart perspectives, or translations of Chinese opinions from all over the world. Our mission is to foster a global community of intellectual and influential citizens interested in China to comment, discuss, praise or critique China (as the case may be) as China continues her rise in stature, power, and influence. It is also about soliciting opinions from citizens around the world to comment on a world that is increasingly less Western, and more Eastern as China continues her rise.

We are thrilled that the birth of this blog can coincide with the beginning of new Year of the Tiger (02/14/2010). As you may know, the Tiger is the third sign in the Chinese Zodiac cycle. As a sign for bravery and courage, it was often used to ward away bad fortune and evil spirits in ancient times. Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the “Founder of the Republic” (or “Father of the Revolution”) that is still held in high respect by Chinese on both sides of the strait, was himself a Tiger. We hope you will find this blog to provide similar auspicious purposes.

As we mentioned in our “About” page, all contributors here write on a voluntary basis with no compensation; those who write are driven to do so by their conscience, and nothing else. We are completely unaffiliated with any government, political party, or movement. The roots of Hidden Harmonies is Fool’s Mountain, which was previously known as (had its roots in) blog4china.

Articles and comments prior to this announcement have been copied from Fool’s Mountain. Materials we feel distracted from our goal of facilitating meaningful exchange have been left out. If you feel your article should be included, please send us an email.

The layout and features of this blog should be very familiar to Fool’s Mountain readers.

Here is a brief rundown of Hidden Harmonies’ features:

About Us: In case you need to be reminded of what our goals are, this is the page to check out. It will also list the key contributors who help sustain this community.

Open Forum: This is an area where we welcome readers to give us feedbacks, tell us what they want to read, or to simply to share off-beat thoughts with each other.

Register: We encourage our readers to take part in this community by registering. Over time, we hope to enrich your experiences here. To become a registered user on Hidden Harmonies, click on the register link below the visitor map.

If you are a reader of Fool’s Mountain, we welcome you. If you are new, we welcome you just as the same! We look forward to many years of well-meaning, even if heated, exchanges. And we hope you will find this blog a useful resource.

I came across an Op-Ed in the WSJ by Rebiya Kadeer regarding the recent violence in XinJiang. I thought it would be interesting to post them here for our discussion. Ms. Kadeer is the president of the Uighur American Association and World Uighur Congress. Chinese authorities have accused Kadder of inflaming ethnic tensions in XinJiang and orchestrating the most recent riots.

It should be Chinese New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day throughout most of the world by now … so I just want to wish everyone here a very Happy and Prosperous Year of the OX (牛)!

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Ox symbolizes prosperity and is associated with fortitude and hard work. Those born under the influence of the Ox are natural leaders, are dependable, and possess innate abilities to achieve great things. Read more…

Exiled Tibetans from around the world are gathering in Dharamsala for their largest political conference in nearly 60 years. The Dalai Lama has called for the six-day meeting, which begins Monday, after failing to make progress in negotiations with China. The Tibetan spiritual leader has promised to let everything be on the table and not to make any major pronouncements during the conference Read more…

Wang Yung-Ching, founder of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group, has passed away at the age of 91 while on a business trip to the United States. Wang died unexpectedly in his sleep at his daughter’s home in New Jersey.

Known affectionately as the “Midas of Management” in Taiwan, Wang started his business by selling rice in 1932. From that humble beginning, Wang would become the richest man in Taiwan with a personal fortune (last year) of U.S. $6.8 billion. Wang’s rags-to-rich’s story, coupled with his frugal, unassuming, hardworking lifestyle, makes him one of the most inspirational figures in Taiwan in a generation.

Wang began building his business conglomerate in the early 1950s – when the Japanese had just left the island. His conglomerate would help to transform Taiwan’s biotechnology, petrochemical processing and electronic components production industries into leaders of the world. Read more…

Ever since China flung open its doors in 1978, many Chinese have wanted to visit the United States. There’s a great deal of fascination with the world’s greatest superpower. But unfortunately, the door has almost always been closed. Initially by tight Chinese standards that restricted who could have access to a passport, but over the past decade, by tight American visa standards.

This issue has been discussed before (Washington Post article, 2006), although not many in the West are fully aware how difficult the visa issue has been in years past. The only Chinese who’ve entered the United States in the last two decades have been here to study, work, or to visit family. And even in these cases, after presenting an entire library of supporting documents to an often hostile consulate officer, a significant percentage (majority?) are denied visas for no obvious reason. It’s ironic to me that even as the United States government funds dissident groups in China in an attempt to spread the word on democracy, it keeps out hundreds of thousands of average Chinese willing to pay for the privilege of visiting.

But China’s economic growth has finally led to a change. Starting this fall, Chinese tourists will be given the opportunity to visit in groups. Chinese tourists will still have to appear at consulates for a face-to-face interview, but the indication is that visas will now be granted to the vast majority of qualified applicants.

According to government forecasts, up to 3 million tents are desperately needed in the earthquake zone. Every available tent in China has been redirected to this effort, and other international donors have done their best to help as well. (Pakistan, notably, has apparently donated every tent it owns to China.)

Not satisfied with just donating money to a nameless charity, a group of US-based Chinese on MITBBS have formed a group to take direct action. They are purchasing tents in the United States and shipping them directly to Sichuan. Below is their story (文章), and an opportunity for you to help.

This blog site is intended to be a collaborative effort; it doesn’t belong to any individual.

We welcome all voices representing the Chinese mainstream speaking in English. I’ve come across examples of wonderful, insightful writing from Chinese on other blogs, letters submitted to English newspapers, etc… and I really hope this site could act as a central clearinghouse for sharing and saving this material. Many of the comments left on this blog are also wonderful.

For those who write material (or just happen to find some), please let us know. You can email the email address in the “About” page above. If you think you have the time to be a regular contributor, please contact us about joining us as an editor as well.